


There's Just No Winning

by Cloud_Drizzle



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, High School, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 11:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21968566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud_Drizzle/pseuds/Cloud_Drizzle
Summary: Eric Cartman has recently decided he no longer wants to be enemies with Kyle, however he always ends up messing up when it comes to being nice.
Relationships: Kyle Broflovski/Eric Cartman
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49





	1. Too Far

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoys! I have a basic outline on how I want this story to play out, and there is going to be at least 6 chapters! Number will probably increase however. Thank you for reading <3

The mass amount of students of South Park High swarmed the halls, bouncing to their lockers and some stopping at other's. Most the kids headed for the buses to go home.

Cartman leaned on a currently unused locker as he waited for Kyle. The smaller boy fumbled around in his locker until finally closing it and throwing his green backpack over him. 

Kyle turned to look at Cartman and sighed, "why are you still following me? I told you to leave."

"Psh! As if I'd listen to a Jew!" Cartman retorted. Kyle gave him a glare, opened his mouth as if to argue, and closed it again. He turned around and started heading towards the exit of the building. 

Cartman followed him close behind, keeping up with Kyle while navigating around other students as best as he could. Kyle started walking faster, attempting to distance himself from Cartman. 

"Kahl!" Cartman yelled, "Stop walking so god damn fast!" He was still close behind Kyle, but running through crowded hallways for Eric was impossible for many reasons. 

"Stop following me Cartman," Kyle commanded.

"Come on Kahl, aren't we friends?" Cartman spoke as sweetly as he could muster. 

"No." Kyle answered.

"Wow, no need to sugar coat it, Kahl" Cartman teased.

Kyle stopped in his tracks at turned to face Cartman, "Leave me the fuck alone! I've had it with your constant nagging! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of YOU!" He turned around to continue walking. Cartman clutched the small boy's arm before he could.

Kyle attempted to yank his arm out of the larger boy's grip but was unsuccessful. Kyle stopped struggling and looked at Cartman dead in the eyes. "Let go."

Cartman opened his mouth to protest, but Kyle repeated himself, "I said LET GO." When Eric still didn't budge, Kyle fought back. He kicked Cartman in the knee, sending a jolt of pain through his leg. Out of shock and pain, Cartman's grip loosened just enough for Kyle to jerk his arm away and bolt away. 

"Get back here, Jew!" Cartman demanded as he painfully made his way to the exit.

After practically limping to the bus, Cartman had made it. Barely, but he made it. There was only one seat left open, next to Butters. Kyle was seated in front of Butters, staring out the window completely zoned out. He shifted his gaze and made eye contact with Cartman, who was still standing at the front of the bus. After giving Cartman a death glare, Kyle returned his gaze to the window. Stan, who was sitting right next to Kyle, was too busy texting his girlfriend, Wendy, to notice their exchange. Not that death glares between the two were anything new.

Cartman plopped himself down on the bus seat next to Butters. 

"Well howdy, Eric!" Butters gleamed. Despite everything Cartman has done to Butters through the years, Butters still enjoyed being around him any chance he got. It was odd really. Cartman had done countless messed up things to Butters, he's gotten him grounded more times than once and yet Butters still never left his side. It made him feel guilty, though not guilty enough to stop controlling Butters.

"Mm yes hello Butters," Eric spoke softly as he was distracted by the Jewish boy sitting in front of him. Kyle usually gets pissed at his jokes and nagging, but today felt different.

Butters had attempted multiple times to get Cartman's attention and input into his one sided conversation, but Eric was too far gone in his own thoughts. He'd been trying to make friends with Kyle for the last week now. Obviously Kyle wasn't having any of it.

Why should Kyle trust him anyway? What has Cartman ever done to prove trustworthy. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

Eric sighed, he shouldn't be thinking like this. His therapist had told Cartman that these thoughts only fed the negative emotions. Cartman shifted his sitting position slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable. It failed, but it was worth a shot. 

The bus came to their stop. 

Stan, Kyle, and Cartman all stood to leave the bus. Kenny wasn't there today, but he usually got off at this stop too. The three boys made their way out of the bus. The air was cold and harsh, as it always is in South Park. Snow covered the ground and every foot step was temporarily placed upon the frosted for everyone to see. 

The snow crunched under Cartman's feet as he placed them on the earth below. He overheard Stan say something about meeting Wendy, and watched as him and Kyle parted ways. Cartman quickly took that as an opportunity to talk with Kyle. He sped up to try and catch up to Kyle, but his loud steps alerted Kyle of his presence too soon. 

Kyle jerked his body around to look Cartman in the eye, raising a fist as he stopped, "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?!"

Cartman mustered up the sweetest voice he possibly could, attempting to sound overly innocent, "No Kahl, I don't think you did!~"

"Mother fucker!" Kyle stomped closer to Cartman, causing him to take a step bad to avoid being trampled on by the Jew, "I'm done with your fucking games, fat ass!" Kyle grabbed a fist full of Cartman's jacket.

"My games have nothing to do with fucking, Kahl," Cartman paused, "unless you wanted them to~" Kyle immediately took his hand off of Cartman and stepped back. Eye's wide with shock and disgust.

"Fuck you!" Kyle spat.

"Oh, if that's what you want, Kahl~" Cartman continued, glad to finally get a proper reaction from Kyle. Eric's preferred pass time was to rile up his favourite Jew, but everyone already knew that.

Catching Cartman off guard, Kyle pushed him into the snow. The small Jewish boy loomed above Cartman in a threatening manner. "Leave me the fuck alone or I swear to god I'll kick your ass."

Eric had to fight the urge to continue with his flirty comebacks in fear of Kyle actually snapping. Cartman searched for the words to say, what would he say in this situation? Anything he wanted to say would only make the situation worse for him. There was no winning here. He didn't want Kyle to hate him anymore, but he didn't know how to be nice to Kyle. Cartman wishes Kyle knew that, but there is no way in hell he'd ever open up to that Jew.

"That's what I thought," Kyle said as he backed away from Eric, continuing to make his way towards his house. 

Cartman just laid there, rethinking the events from today. He always walks up to Kyle with the intention of trying to be his friend, but something always happens that makes him forget his motives. He felt so stupid, so useless. He can't do anything right. All he wants is to be friends with Kyle. Sure, the banter is fun, but he'd give it up if it meant Kyle would actually enjoy his company. 

Just for once, he wants to be nice. But he can't seem to figure out how.


	2. Guilt

The night sky loomed over the town of South Park, barely a cloud in sight. Moonlight glittered on the empty streets. Most people were peacefully resting, recharging their slumbering bodies for the next sunrise. Cartman, however, was wide awake, mind racing a mile a minute.

Eric sat in his bed, contemplating hard. He may have decided recently that he wanted to try being nice to Kyle, but actually committing and putting that thought to action was a lot harder than anticipated. Somehow, every time he attempts to talk to Kyle they always end up arguing and Cartman gets too caught up in the moment to put an end to his banter. He wants to be nice and friendly, but the thought of opening up or being vulnerable was sickening. It took a long ass time for him to even open up to his therapist and stop lying to him. Oh yeah, therapy. Kyle- along with everyone else- doesn't even KNOW about therapy. Not like he'd ever tell them, that would be the equivalent of admitting he has actual emotions- and more specifically ones that he doesn't like.

Kyle- right, Kyle, that's what he's supposed to be thinking about. Cartman wants to apologise to him. For what, specifically? That's a good question. A lot of things really, but more specifically what has he done TODAY that he wants to make amends for? All Cartman knows is that he feels bad. He feels... Guilty. He shivers, that's an emotion he doesn't experience very often. In fact, it's quite a new emotion. Usually, guilt isn't even an emotion he has, but his days of manipulating people have long passed.

Cartman rethinks the day, specifically everything he did to piss Kyle off. Firstly, he called him a Jew at LEAST twice. Secondly, he wouldn't stop following Kyle even though he yelled at him to stop. Oh, and he made a bunch of suggestive flirty comebacks. 

At this point, Cartman isn't sure if there even is a chance at friendship with Kyle.

But he has to try.

Cartman gently picks up his phone and cradles the device in his palms. The screen flashes on, illuminating the room and temporary blinding Cartman as he fumbles to pull up the settings in order to darken the screen. After successfully changing the brightness to a percentage that wasn't physically painful, he tapped on the green application labelled "messages." Cartman took a breath in and exhaled slowly in an attempt to slow his furiously increasing heart rate. He really was about to apologise. To KYLE of all people! What happened to him?

'Hey' Cartman slowly typed out. He forced himself to hit send before he could second guess this action. What was he thinking? What is he doing? Kyle will just see this as him trying to rip on him more! It's too late now, Cartman decided. He glanced back at his device to see nothing but the word "read" underneath his message. Rude.

'I want 2 talk' he quickly fumbled his fingers across the tiny keyboard. Cartman has always had awful texting, he knows it irritates the hell out of Kyle and that's why he started doing it in the first place. It pisses him off beyond belief. Now it's just a habit Cartman doesn't care to correct.

His phone vibrated in his hands. '*to' is all the text read. Cartman scoffed but was happy to get a response.

'Ok pissbaby' Cartman hit send and immediately regretted it. He's trying to be NICE. God damn it this should not be so hard. 'Sry u arent a pissbaby' he sent not even a minute after. 

The message was left on read for a minute and fifty-two seconds- Cartman counted- before Kyle started to reply. 'What do you want, fat ass? I'm trying to sleep. Whatever it is, hurry it up.' Cartman read.

Finally, Cartman has acquired the attention of the elusive Kyle Broflovski. Only one problem, Cartman didn't even think ahead to what he was planning to say. Sure, he knew he wanted to APOLOGISE, but how to phrase it and sound genuine was beyond him. No matter what he said, Kyle was bound to think it was bull shit anyway so why should he even care? But he does care, he cares more than he should. 

The sound of a quick buzz brought him back to the situation at hand, the message 'well?' was received. Cartman had to think quickly on what to say or else it would make things so much worse. 'im sry' he sent. 'I mean, I'm sorry' he sent soon after. If he spelt words correctly maybe, just maybe, Kyle would actually listen to him. No, probably not, but it was worth the effort to at least try. 

'... For?' Kyle sent back. Cartman was aware that being vague wouldn't do anything, but he has officially gotten Kyle's attention and curiosity. 

Well, there is a lot of things Cartman wants to apologise for that happened today. But what to start out with? 'For calling you a Jew' he decided on.

'Okay' was the only response he got. Cartman sighed, this really wasn't going to work, is it?

Cartman typed 'I'm serious' in a sad attempt to persuade Kyle. 'I'm also sorry for following you a bunch today and not leaving u alone' he added. After rereading his message he realised he made an error, '*you' he corrected. He truly just wants to make this friendship possible, so he will correct these mistakes as much as he can.

'Seeing you type in actual words is alarming... Are you okay?' Cartman tried not to smile at Kyle's concern, 'Seriously, are you good?' He sighed. Emotions suck. 

'Idk' he typed back without thinking. Shit! Don't be vulnerable! 'Oh and also sorry for any weird shit I said' Cartman thought back to the few sexual remarks he made that really got under Kyle's skin. 

'Like what? You say a lot of weird shit.' Kyle replied. 

Cartman guesses he doesn't remember, or at least he assumes that it didn't actually affect Kyle that much 'Nvm' he sent back. 'Still sorry though'.

Without another second to think, his phone lit up and started frantically vibrating. Cartman was getting a call. He read "Jew" labelled at the top of his screen. Cartman quickly hit the decline button, forcing the call to end. Texting his feelings was hard enough, TALKING about them is a whole lot worse. 

Another text came in from Kyle, 'Are you okay?' A second later another came in, 'Pick up the call. Now.'

The phone went back to its previous state of buzzing, this time Cartman accepted the call. He reluctantly held the phone up to his ear. He almost felt nervous. Almost. 

"Hello? Cartman?" A voice rang from the other side of the phone. Cartman sighed.

"Yeah, I'm here," he replied. There was no denying it, he truly was nervous. When they were texting he felt like he had some sort of control. Cartman felt like he could at least somewhat predict the next message that would pop up on his phone. However, he was at a loss at this very moment with no idea where this was going.

A sigh of relief could be heard from Kyle, "What the fuck were all those messages?" Cartman didn't know how to reply, so he didn't, "Were you actually trying to apologise?"

Cartman hesitated, his first instinct was to shout no and call him a Jew, but that would ruin everything he had been trying to accomplish. "Yeah..."

"Bull shit. Are you drunk right now? High? Does someone have you at gunpoint or something?" There was a wave of silence, Eric wanted to say SOMETHING but he couldn't for the life of him think of something. "Answer me, Cartman."

"I'm not high," he spoke firmly, "and I'm not being threatened. I just wanted to say sorry." Kyle didn't respond. "Hello?" Cartman spoke making sure Kyle was still there.

"No, no. I'm here. I just don't believe you," he replied. Ouch. "So what's your next big scheme? Are you trying to become my friend just so you can make me look like a fool for trusting you or something?"

"Next big scheme? Well I guess become friend with you could work, but I don't see the point in making you look like a fool," Cartman attempted to be honest, but even he realises how much that sounds like absolute bull shit.

"I'm going to sleep. Goodnight," Kyle stated.

"Goodnight," Cartman tried to reply, but by the time he started to mutter the words the phone call was already over. 

That went better than expected.


	3. Arguments

The large room bustled with students. Many were lined up, waiting patiently for their turn to acquire food. Most of the students already had their plastic cafeteria trays in hand or had seated themselves and were slowly gnawing at the food they were provided. It smelt of grilled cheese and mash potatoes. Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny were all seated at a small circular table perfectly aligned with many others littering the room. Four of the circular stools surrounding the table were vacant, leaving the other four filled in. Cartman and Kenny were seated next to each other, previously engaged in a conversation. The other two sat across from the others and were happily chattering to each other. Every now and then one would laugh as the other exaggerated a story about how amazing their life was. It was sickening.

Kyle's nose crinkled as he tilted his head back in a laughing fit, Stan raising his arms to exaggerate whatever it was that he was talking about. Kyle laughed more as Stan continued on with his fascinating tale. What were they talking about? Who knows. Cartman wasn't focused on what they were saying, he was only focused on Kyle.

Desperately, he wants to make friends with Kyle. He wants to try- and he is! He's trying so desperately hard. No matter what he does it doesn't seem to work. If anything all it does is make Kyle more suspicious and untrusting of him. Last night he tried his best to apologise to Kyle about anything and everything he did in the last day, but it did nothing. Kyle is convinced that Cartman is just plotting to make his life even more miserable. He has every right to feel that way, but that's the problem. Trust is a hard thing to acquire, especially when the person you want to earn the trust of has been your worst enemy for longer than you can remember. 

This is hopeless, and Cartman is aware of this.

Cartman was abruptly pulled from his thoughts as Kyle's gaze shot up to meet his, "what?" Kyle barked as he raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Cartman echoed. 

Kyle's eyes morphed into a squint, "Why are you staring at me, fat ass?" His lips sliding into a frown.

Cartman huffed in annoyance, "I don't know what you're talking about, Jew," he stated as he crossing his arms behind his head, leaning back in his chair. A smug smile crept it's way onto his face as he eyed his friend sitting directly across from him.

Damn it he called Kyle a Jew again.

The smaller boy's eyes narrowed as he glared at his enemy, "stop looking at me," he commanded, lips tightening. Cartman laughed as he returned his arms to his side. He opened his mouth to retort but lost Kyle's interest as the boy on the other side of the table tapped his shoulder and showed him something on his phone. Cartman sighed but was happy that they didn't have to end up in a fight.

An arm was unexpectedly dropped across Cartman's shoulders as he reached for his fork. Eric looked to his right to see his best friend, Kenny McCormick, looking like he was about to tell him the most entertaining story of his life. Cartman seriously doubted it would be very entertaining, however, as most of Kenny's stories are vulgar and overly detailed about his most recent sexual encounter.

"So you know that new girl, Lisa, right?" Cartman absentmindedly nodded his head as he got a fork-full of mashed potatoes, "Turns out she's a massive slut," Kenny excitedly continued as he raised his eyebrows. Eric couldn't care less as he entered the food into his mouth. "We talked in third period and she's TOTALLY into me! I got her number and everything!" Kenny hastily removed his arm from Cartman's shoulder in order to rummage through his pockets. He snatched something out of his front jacket pocket and pulled it out. The boy in the orange parka shoved his fist in front of the other's face while clutching onto a small piece of paper containing a neatly written phone number. A little heart was scribbled at the end of the digits, giving off a very flirtatious vibe. Cartman narrowed his eyes as he eyed the small paper, uninterested yet disgusted.

"You know," Kenny spoke as he gently slipped the tiny paper back into his pocket. Cartman took a sip of his milk carton provided by the school "I could totally hook you up with someone if you ever wanted to get laid one day." He elbowed him gently while raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Cartman scoffed at the idea of hooking up with someone, he's never really found it appealing. Every time he sees a girl the other's deem "attractive" he has to practically force himself to pretend to find her "hot." Cartman may have dated Heidi at one point, but after years of being done with that, he's realised that there never truly was any attraction there. 

"No, don't," He simply replied, denying the offer. Relationships weren't really on his mind right now anyway. Cartman glanced over at Kyle who was happily chatting to Stan while nibbling at a slice of grilled cheese. The only thing on Eric's mind right now is trying to make amends with Kyle and hopefully become his friend.

Kenny sighed, "Come on man, you're going to have to actually put yourself out there and date someone eventually!" He placed a gentle hand on Cartman's shoulder, "You're not still upset about Heidi are you?" Kenny said softly. 

Cartman jumped at the question, "What?" his eyes darted to Kenny, "I'm not," he spoke sternly. He drifted his eyes down to his blue cafeteria tray as he scooped another fork full of mashed potatoes

"Then what's up? You haven't dated anyone since then. Hell- you haven't even LOOKED at a girl since then!" Kenny's eyes widened as he gasped, "Cartman are you gay?" He asked in a harsh whisper, quiet enough that no one but Eric could hear.

Violently, Cartman slammed his fork down on his plastic cafeteria tray, mashed potatoes flying onto the tray. He swung his head to face Kenny, "I'm not a fucking fag, Kenny!" He spoke harshly, loud enough for the rest of his table to hear.

"Don't use that word, fat ass," Kyle scoffed as he side-eyed Cartman from across the table. His brows were furrowed as Cartman made eye contact with his enemy.

"Excuse me? Why do you care so much?" Cartman said, completely forgetting his previous goal of trying to make friends with the Jew. He crossed his arms as Kyle turned his body to face Cartman, crossing his arms in the process.

"Because it's a slur, dumb ass," Kyle growled as he clenched his teeth. They've dealt with each other for countless years, however, Cartman is still the one who can get under his skin with barely doing anything. Kyle didn't understand it, but he didn't care to figure it out.

"I use plenty of slurs, Jew," Cartman informed, "so why is this the one that offends you?" 

Kyle narrowed his eyes, "stop," he gave in a "this is your last warning" tone of voice. 

Cartman didn't seem to catch on, "or what?" he pushed, testing his limits.

Without a second warning, the small Jewish boy was on his feet and making his way to the other side of the table. Stan jumped up as well, attempting to grasp his arm, missing. Cartman's eyes widened as he realised what was happening. An arm was raised and swiftly shot into Cartman's nose, sending a jolting pain into his entire face.

"Ow! What the shit, dude!" Cartman desperately cradled his nose as tears started to develop in his eyes.

"Say that again, I dare you," Kyle threatened, standing tall over Cartman as he held his nose.

Stan grasped onto Kyle's arm and ushered him back to his previous seat across from Cartman. Kyle didn't make any attempt to fight back as Stan lead his agitated friend back to his seat. 

"Dude your nose is bleeding," Kenny muttered, concerned. With a fistful of napkins, the blond tapped Cartman's shoulder in an attempt to hand them to him. Cartman gratefully took the napkins from the other's grasp and nodded his head in thanks. He moved his bloodied gloved hand away from his face and placed the napkin pile under his nose, soaking in the blood and dying the previously white papers, red. Cartman lifted his palm and inspected the yellow, blood-covered fabric. This is going to take forever to get out. 

He glanced up at Kyle who was giving him a death glare. Cartman looked away from Kyle, shoulders slumping. 

Friendship is way harder to achieve than Cartman ever expected.


	4. Trapped

The classroom was quiet, only two boys and a teacher occupied it. No one spoke. The only audible noise, besides the ticking of a clock, was the sound of movement when someone would shift in their seat. A low, creaking sound would be heard from even the slightest of movements. The silence was deafening. A strong smell of a burning peppermint candle was enough to give even the least sensitive of people a major headache. 

Detention.

That's where the two boys ended up as they unknowingly let a teacher observe their little... "disagreement" at lunch.

Of course, Cartman also got in trouble, because apparently, it's his fault that he got punched in the nose. Cartman didn't get it, but what was he supposed to do? Ditch detention? Of course, he wanted to... but...

He looked over at Kyle who was sitting beside him, fidgeting with a wooden pencil. Kyle paid no mind to his surroundings. The feeling of deep thought was visible on his face as he silently tapped the eraser of the pencil onto the polished wooden desk. Kyle wasn't going to be broken from his thoughts any time soon, but Cartman pulled his vision away from the Jew's direction to not raise suspicion if he were caught.

The peace in the air was broken as the man dressed in a formal black suit watching over them sighed. The teacher pushed himself out of the rolling blue computer chair he had previously been occupying. The man only said, "be back," as he left the room quicker than either of the boys could respond. 

The moment he was in the clear, Cartman let out an overly exaggerated sigh as he slammed his head on the desk, "god this is so fucking gay!" he groaned.

"Don't use that word," Kyle scolded as he side-eyed Cartman that was seated in the desk to the left of him. 

"What? I didn't use a slur this time." Cartman raised an eyebrow.

Kyle huffed and turned from Cartman's gaze, "I don't care. Don't say it like it's a negative thing," his lips pulled themselves into a frown as he actively avoided looking into Cartman's studying eyes. 

Cartman chuckled as he lifted his head from the desk, "Oh and why not? Are you gay? Does Kyle like dick up his-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, CARTMAN! I'M NOT FUCKING GAY!" Kyle screamed as he slammed his gloved hands on the desk. He whipped his head around to face Cartman, brows furrowed and his frown deeper than before. Rage filled his eyes as if daring Cartman to enrage him again. Kyle was fully prepared to give Cartman another bloody nose.

Cartman jumped, "Woah, woah. Get your panties out of a twist, Kahl," he raised his hands, showing he wasn't interested in fighting. Then the situation hit him, this is the perfect time to be nice to Kyle! Kyle wouldn't dare skip detention so now he's STUCK with Eric! It was a perfect opportunity to make amends, "I'll quit using those words around you."

"Wait..." Kyle eyed the other suspiciously, lowering his fists, "really?"

"Really, really," Cartman smiled reassuringly to Kyle, causing him to be calmer yet more uneased.

Kyle did nothing but stare at Cartman in silence, maintaining longer eye contact than Carman was used to. Eric felt his chest tighten, unsure of what he was feeling as Kyle's emerald eyes gazed into his. He swallowed, not sure how to take in this moment. Eventually, the Jewish boy shattered the silence, "Why?"

"W-why what?" Cartman couldn't help but stutter as he started feeling jittery. He couldn't explain this feeling, he felt so uneasy despite nothing going wrong. This is what he wants, right? Cartman is finally getting somewhere, Kyles undivided attention is set on him and it's not for a negative reason.

So why does he feel like throwing up?

"Why would you stop?" Kyle's eyebrows lowered ever so slightly, "what do you have to gain from that?" 

Your friendship, Cartman wanted to reply. He fought against that urge, knowing it would only come off as suspicious. He knew Kyle had no interest in becoming his friend. He was being a burden. Why would Kyle ever give him a second chance? Eric's chest tightened more at the thought.

"Nothing I guess," he finally replied, deciding a simple answer was the best one.

Silence covered the classroom as the two boys sat a few feet away from each other, both occupying their wooden desk. The teacher still hadn't returned, not that either of the boys were too focused on that fact anyway. Though the feeling of unease never left Eric's body. He wanted to leave. No, he NEEDED to leave. It was as if his body was begging him to take it out of this situation. He felt like he needed to get away from school and Kyle, but he didn't want to. He wanted to get away from school, sure, but he didn't want to leave Kyle behind. 

"Hey..." Eric started gently, trying to coax Kyle back out of his thoughts. Kyle slowly looked over at the other and hummed, asking him to continue, "do you want to get out of here?" Cartman whispered.

Kyle's eyes widened, "like skip detention?" he whispered, slightly more aggressive than Cartman had. Eric nodded in response but was looking at Kyle in uncertainty. Kyle paused for a moment, of course, he wanted to ditch school, but that wasn't a very Kyle thing to do. Kyle would never skip school, never! Even if it was the last day on earth, Kyle would be the last kid to ever play hooky. If Kyle DID skip school, you might as well assume that the world IS ending.

"Okay," Kyle slowly nodded, accepting that Cartman would be surprised by this. 

Eric's eyes widened with a devilish glimmer. He smiled and clapped his bare hands together, "ooo," he started, "bad boy Kyle has come out to play!" 

Rolling his eyes, Kyle gracefully pushed himself out of his wooden school desk and hopped to his feet. Cartman did the same, though a lot less gracefully. His heart was picking up speed as the two made their way over to the glass classroom window. 

The larger boy picked at the small levers attached to the window as the other leaned on the wall directly next to it. Kyle eyed the small rectangular window that was placed upon the door, awaiting the possibility of being caught right then and there.

"Hurry it up," Kyle demanded in a hushed scold.

Cartman snickered, "whatever happened to the teacher's pet I've come to know and love?" 

A disapproving noise was made from Kyle as he tapped his foot on the smooth concrete flooring. Loudly, the window snapped open as a gust of cold air blew it's way over Kyle, sending shivers down his spine. Kyle's arms immediately embraced himself in an attempt to block out the snowy air.

"You cold, Jew boy?" Cartman snickered as he forced the window open, "want my jacket?"

"What?" Kyle jumped at the offer that seemingly came out of nowhere, "no, I'm fine I don't want your fucking jacket," Kyle scoffed, narrowing his eyes at the mere thought of wearing Eric Cartman's jacket.

Cartman removed his hands from the window seal as backed up slightly, allowing space between him and the window, "jeez all I did was offer," he shrugged as he pointed his open palms towards the window, gesturing Kyle to exit first, "get the sand out of your vagina, Kahl."

"I don't have sand in my vagina!" Kyle scoffed as he swung one leg through the window and pushed itself out. 

Cartman stuck a hand out in an attempt to help Kyle out of the window but was promptly swiped away, "Okay, sorry, sorry," Cartman said in response to Kyle's agitation.

With one leg out of the window and one leg in the vacant classroom, he paused, "what?" Kyle questioned, an eyebrow-raising in suspicion.

"I said sorry," Cartman repeated, assuring him that he was not hearing things.

Kyle shook his head, "Yeah I know but..." he pushed his other leg out of the window and placed them into the soft snow below them, "why?" a crunch could be heard as a foot met the ground below. His body still inside, he dove his head under the half-opened window and forced himself out, landing gently feet first on the ground below, "You've been saying sorry a lot recently," he began, turning to face Cartman as he prepared himself to go follow behind Kyle in going through the window, "are you okay?"

Hands lain on the bottom of the window seal, he paused to take in the last few words uttered from his Jewish "friend's" mouth, "Yeah I'm fine just..." he sighed, "don't worry about it," he spoke softly as he raised a foot onto the bottom portion of the open window.

"Go on," Kyle whispered gently to Cartman, catching him off guard.

Cartman swung a leg over the window and pulled himself out quicker than Kyle could process, barely backing up quick enough to avoid being trampled by the larger boy. They made eye contact as he stood, Kyle's eyes telling Eric that he cares. Cartman knew he didn't, but he couldn't resist that look... those eyes. He sighed, breaking eye contact in favour to gaze at the snowy ground, "I don't..." he squinted his eyes, "I don't want to be the bad guy anymore," he simply stated. He crossed his arms, "sure, it was fun for a while, but..." he kicked the snow with his foot, "I hate being hated, Kyle," Eric looked back up to meet Kyle's gaze, He looked concerned for him. Eric didn't know how to feel, his heart was racing and his body felt numb, "I... I want to make up for all the years I've been an awful person but I don't know how to when no one around me trusts me," Kyle's eyes were filled with an emotion Cartman couldn't quite read, but it made him feel heavy, his heart continued to pound.

He wants to ask something, but doesn't know how, "Kyle?" the other boy hummed, ushering him to continue, "can I ask you to do something for me?"

"What is it?" Kyle fidgeted with his hands, unsure of where this is going.

Snow below him crunched as he kicked at it once more. His eyes darting to look at the ground and back up at Kyle who was awaiting a response, "can you give me a second chance?" he mumbled, refusing to break eye contact this time, "I know... I know I don't deserve it, but..." he sighed, "look, if I fuck up you can hate me forever, for the rest of your life or for the rest of time I don't care... just..." 

Kyle's head bowed slightly as he raised his eyebrows in surprise, "are you being serious right now?" he said in an almost aggressive tone.

Cartman puffed, furrowing his brow and eyeing Kyle, "wow, okay," he closed his eyes in irritation, "I just opened myself up to you and now you're asking that? Rude."

"No, I didn't mean-" Kyle stepped forward, causing Cartman to reopen his eyes and find eye contact with the other once more, "look I just want to make sure you're being serious right now and that this isn't some fucked up joke."

"I'm being serious," Cartman said, facial expression unfazed, "super seriously."

Kyle nodded his head, "okay," he spoke softly, "one chance, and that's it."

"Thank you," Cartman beamed. His chest felt warm and his numb body now felt as if it was floating. Eric closed the window, making sure it clicked shut and was unopenable from the outside. Heartbeat finally began to calm as the two boys walked away from the school, leaving detention behind. 

Maybe this friendship is possible.


End file.
